The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1887-03-31
SOLDERING IN AFRICA.

> e
to reporter rs follows:
"Whcn was young had a grea,
love for the army, and at the
age of seventeen l went to Stras-
bourg to become soldier. / was put
into an infantry regiment, from which
l was transferred in six weeks to the
Third regiment Of zouaves. While
among them I was sent to Algiers,
where I staid for about fifteen years,
fighting the Arabs or living the miser-
able life Of French soldier in Tan
gier."
"Why miserablea"
"Wcll, the country is awfully hot,
and anybody who is not used to it suf
fers terribly"
Ibid you do any active servicep"
"Yes, and plenty of it. The Arabs
on the northern coast of Africa are con-
stantly revolving against the supremacy
Of the French, whom that country costs
many drop of blood in a year. Many
a friend did l lose while I was out
there. Once when we were on the
dcsert-we had been after a detach-
ment of Arab horsemen-we .ost our
way, and we roamed for about week
through the vast sea of sand which
stretches itself through the northern
part of Africa-the Sahara. Our sup
ply Of water had given out, and We
were almost dying of thirst, while our
knapsacks with provisions were almost
empty. To get some water and some
food we resorted at last to the measure
of killing one Of the camcls that we had
with us. The camel has stomach which
is divided into four parts, one of which
contains the water just as the animal
drinks it. We opened that part, and to
our great JOY there was enough water to
give us all at least cupful each. On
the sixth day our number had dwindled
down to seven, when cavalcade OF
Arabian horsemen came upon us, and
we, being too weak to defend ourselves,
were made prisoners and taken to
Taghit, town in Morocco.
Here our Captain was killed in the
most horrible manner by the Arabs.
They tore his nails one by one from his
fingers, cut out his tongue, and
chopped of his ears before they finally
killed him. / myself was sold the next
day to rich Moor, who made me his
valet. I had here comparatively an easy
life, but they forced me there to join the
religion of Mohammed. Unfortunately
my master died, and he leaving no
heirs I was taken back by the Govern
ment as their property. They, not
being able to dispose of me irnmediate-
ly, sent me to Morocco, where / was
put into a dungeon among criminals Of
the most degraded character. How
ever, 1 appealed to the Sultan, through
the governor of the prison, and / was
released, prime 3ally because I had be-
come a Mussu nan. I ran through the
town, from one end to the other, when
at last I found occupation with He
brew, who took me in as a water-car-
rier and general servant As soon as
had saved some money, left Morocco
for Algiers. The dangers encount-
cred on my long and wearisome jour-
ney were horrible-not SO much from
the people or from beasts as from the
horrible climate. For five days trav-
eled through dreary, barren desert.
I was without food for two days. On
several occasions I was misled by the
Fata Morgana. The Fata Morgana is
a reflection of some distant place in the
rays of the sun, and is very deceiving
to travellers, especially on the desert.
1 had left Tlemeen, the town where
Abd-el-Kader vanished the French in
1885, the day previous. When got
on the desert I had small flask of
water, which I had been obliged to
buy, as there was drought in Tie
meen, making water SO scarce that it
sometimes came to twenty confines
flour cents) a pint.
"When the water in my flask gave
out l seemed to feel awfully thirsty; I
became terribly detected, my head felt
dizzy and ached dreadfully. I was
wishing for the next town with all my
heart. The sun shone down upon the
country with scorching heat. The sand
was so hot that it burned the soles of
my feet. With fainting heart lifted
up my head to see whether any trees or
houses appeared on the horizon. Look
ing up was pleasantly surprised by
noticing in the distance beautiful vii
lage. The little one-story white houses
were surrounded with large trees,
whose beautiful green foliage, in con-
trast to- the white houses, made up
a nice picture. I fastened to reach
the spot as quickly as possible, but
imagine my disappointment when I
found that the glorious oasis was moth
ing but deception. The next day, al
most at the point Of death, I came to a
small settlement, where recuperatcd
myself from my starving condition.
After a week arrived in Tangi. r,
where I was received with joyful hur-
rahs by my old comrades. In the
meantime news had arrived in Algiers
of the war between France and Ger
many. In few days ship took us
away from Africa. We landed in Mar
settles, and were at once dispatched to
the front. fought under Marshal
Bazine at Gravelotte, and was taken
prisoner by the Prussians, who sent me
to Erfurt, in Saxony. I was prisoner
there for six months, when was lib
Grated on account of peace, which had
been established between the countries.
Since that time / have been German
subject as Alsace-Lorraine was an
nexed by that country. I am glad ne
became Germans, because while Il Nas
a prisoner in their country they treaff d
me like a prince, better than I Mas
ever held as soldier in Franco
Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette.